The art of letting go: Here's all you need to know about Pooja Dhingra's Pardon Our French café

Lemon cake

In the quiet, arcaded lanes of Ballard Estate, where time tends to move a little slower, Pastry Chef Pooja Dhingra's Pardon Our French café is her living the Parisian dream. A café , with good food, a great beverage programme and a flower shop, selling blooms [with a fortune cookie style message attached] to go with your coffee. And while Fort wasn't her first choice for the café 's location. Bandra, with its steep rents, wasn't working out. In hindsight, returning to town feels instinctive. "I always wanted to come back, but unlike the last time [Le 15 Café in Colaba], I wanted a space where my kitchen and café could co-exist," she adds.

At Pardon Our French, Pooja Dhingra trades precision for play, shaping a café that feels more instinctive than exacting

The current space, on Adi Murzban Path, once a bank, later a warehouse, sits somewhere between a coffee shop and a bakehouse. It carries the same love for pastry and the same technical grounding that we have come to know of her, this time, however, with a freer, more instinctive spirit. Just 22 seats, softly lit, with cobbled-street style marble flooring and inviting cane-backed chairs and a wall of blooms, this is her tiny piece of Paris, in Mumbai. Even the smallest touches carry that intent. "I've always loved how in Paris you have bakeries with flower shops," she says. "I wanted that here too. The idea that you can buy yourself flowers with your coffee. Each bloom comes with a tiny note: a personal takeaway, like a fortune cookie, but softer. Something just for you," explains Dhingra.

Last July, her friend and designer, Purva Mehra was in Paris at the same time and they spent a lot of time going to cafés. That trip became a turning point. "The Paris I knew at 23 is very different from the Paris I know now. I wanted this space to reflect something more grown-up, more self-assured, with a voice of its own,"
says Dhingra.

At its core, the brief was simple: loosen the rules. "I just wanted to have fun and not be tied down by the past or the baggage of running a café. Importantly, this space wasn't about recreating the past. I didn't want to build something based on my history; that's too much pressure. Of course, Le15 came from a place of love, of wanting people to feel something. That emotion stays. But the focus has shifted. We're doing new things that feel right because they're delicious and fun and not to impress anyone," says Dhingra.

Bisou Bisou

What defines the café is the mood. The menu doesn't feel overworked. It moves, shifts, adapts. "Some things are planned, others happen. You get the sense that not everything needs to make sense on paper, only on the plate. There's a quiet confidence in that," she adds. That philosophy carries over to the menu, where even with desserts, Dhingra is really just us having fun. "There are familiar things, but also things we just feel like making. It's a more evolved version of what I would've done ten years ago."

Eggs and soldiers

The shift from her earlier venture is deliberate. "Everything is different: the space, the thought process, the menu. Earlier, desserts were displayed, and you walked in and chose from what you saw. Here, I didn't want that. Instead, there's a changing dessert table where we make what we want for the day. If I wake up wanting to make an apple tart or a pecan pie, I'll do it," explains Dhingra.

The menu is intentionally structured in three parts: beverages, savoury, and desserts. "The savoury, curated by Chef Anandita Kamani, is still small and evolving but meticulously designed. It's lighter, a little more balanced so that you can indulge in dessert," says Dhingra.

Brown butter madelines

Dishes lean into the personal; for instance, like the French toast is savoury. "That's how I grew up eating it; this is my dad's recipe, slightly tweaked. I didn't even know it was supposed to be sweet," she adds. The Eggs and Soldiers was our favourite, a classic British breakfast consisting of a soft-boiled egg (with a runny yolk) served in an egg cup, paired with toasted bread cut into thin strips (soldiers) for dipping. The POF Fries are proof that simple café -style fries do not have to be greasy or mediocre.

And then there is the food, which stays with you in small, lingering ways. A Chocolate Cake layered with mousse, olive oil and a hint of sea salt. A Lemon Cake that feels bright and balanced and would have us return. A Chikoo and Hazelnut creation that surprises you, then wins you over. Brown-butter Madeleines that are simple in theory but precise in execution are what you will come back for.

POF Fries

There is playfulness, too. Soft serves that lean into nostalgia, creating a Sundae of your childhood. Then there is the hot chocolate affogato that feels like comfort in a cup, and desserts including the Strawberry and Cream which has mascarpone cheese, basil oil, and honey toast, that don't try too hard to impress, but do anyway.

The beverage programme, however, takes centre stage. It is something that Dhingra has leaned into and is very proud of. From Brown Butter Cappuccinos to Bisou Bisou (a double espresso with Valencia orange and raspberry dust), Salted Honey Rosemary Lattes, and playful cold brews, even the coffee carries that same thoughtfulness: familiar, but just slightly unexpected.

Two weeks on, Dhingra is already feeling at home in the new space. "It's the sense of community, you feel in the area that is just so heartwarming," she says. "In just the past week, we've gotten to know so many offices around us. People drop in every day for coffee. An office across the street made a little souvenir that we have framed and kept, and so many small things. That feeling of belonging; that's what café culture is really about."

POF Sundae

Somewhere between Paris and Mumbai, between instinct and craft, this café finds its rhythm. And in doing so, it reminds you that not everything needs to be perfectly planned to feel just right. "This isn't about me as a person. It's about the experience we're creating. We're not attached to the outcome. We're just putting out things we genuinely love and hoping people connect with that."

Pardon Our French feels like a place built for people, for conversations that stretch, for soft pauses, for shared plates and second cups. The name, too, reflects that shift. "We wanted something with a connection to Paris, but also something cheeky. Something that gives us room to play," she says. "There's nothing too serious about it."

Nothing here feels rushed. Not the food, not the space, not the experience. It is the kind of place where you can order cake before noon without having to explain yourself. "We've just loosened our collars a bit," smiles Dhingra. "Let's just be… a little more free," she signs off.